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Staten Islanders may feel that taking the ferry home is as routine as Brooklynites catching the A train, but there are some who argue the point — the guys at the wheel of the boat.

“This is a great job, but sometimes it’s dangerous,” said Capt. Nick Koulouris as he steered home the Samuel I. Newhouse — which at 328 feet is one of the two largest crafts in the seven-boat fleet.

“When it’s bad weather, such as foggy, we really earn our money. But the biggest problem is the Fourth of July, when the small boats come out for the fireworks. It seems like 2,000 or 3,000 of them. They cut right in front of us. No warning.”

Assistant Capt. Leif Strommen has been Koulouris’ tag-team partner for about 12 years — one steers the vessel toward Manhattan, the other helps. They reverse the roles on the way back.

“He’s kind of like my wife at work,” joked Strommen, who plans to take the captain’s test early next year.

The Newhouse is one of the two Barberi-class boats in the service, which carry 6,000 passengers each.

Each of the three Kennedy-class BOATS has a 3,500-person capacity — in addition to space for 40 cars. The two Austin-class BOATS, only 210 feet long, have room for 1,200 riders each.

Koulouris, who captains a crew of 16 aboard the Newhouse, said the dozens of crafts plowing the waves at any given time aren’t in much danger of colliding because the captains keep in constant contact with one another. They are also supervised by the Vessel Traffic Service, of the U.S. Coast Guard.

“This is nothing compared with the ’60s,” said Strommen, as the Newhouse sailed past the Statue of Liberty leaving the panoramic skyline behind.

“There used to be a lot of ferry services then. Now there’re only about 15, but back then Brooklyn used to be a big docking area.”

An embryonic ferry system between Staten Island and Manhattan was launched as early as 1816. Today, some 40,000 passengers shuttle between the two ports each day. The city Department of Transportation has a corps of 21 captains and another 21 assistant captains.

Koulouris, who fell in love with ships while a child fisherman in his native Greece, got his pilot’s license in 1985 and finally earned his captain’s bar nearly four years ago.

And, yes, he owns his own boat, which is tied up at the Great Kills Marina on Staten Island.

“It’s a 28-foot sailboat called the Agapy,” said Koulouris. “That means ‘love’ in Greek.”